Secrets
by rainfire and hawkpath
Summary: Rainfire has reached a new home with his Clanmates... all but one. Will Hawkpath be reunited with Darkclan? And why is Jayfeather having strange dreams? Read Exile first.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, it's Hawkpath, back from the grave! _Secrets_ is the second installation of the Exile series (since I ran outta room in my notebook. Please enjoy! Constructive criticism welcome. Warriors is not mine.**

_Prologue_

Jayfeather sat in the darkness of the cave, peering into the gloom. Looking back, he could see the unfamiliar c amp bathed in moonlight. This dream again? He looked for the pinpricks of light he had seen in his last dream. Soon, he saw them. They were eyes, reflecting the bit of moonlight that seeped into the cave.

Should I call hello again? Jayfeather wondered anxiously. The eyes were drawing closer. The other cat seemed to feel nervous; he could feel the anxiety rippling through its pelt.

He felt a surge of frustration. What did he have to do to figure this out?

The other cat was quite close now. It had a clear, sharp smell of crackling leaves and moonlight but there was something else. Was it hurt?

Now the cave was fading away. Oh no. Am I waking up already?

Just as everything seemed to be mere shadow, Jayfeather noticed something. Was that grass? Yes! He was standing in a huge meadow, watching a large group of cats walk by. The silver she-cat from the battle dream was in the lead. He could recognize some of the other cats, too. There was an orange tom with darker flecks; he definitely remembered that one. One tom had mismatched eyes: one blue, one green. That one had been in the battle, too.

This must be the whole clan, he thought. But...isn't one missing? Where's the golden-brown one? Jayfeather blinked. The cats were fading again. "Fox dung," he muttered crossly. Now he had more questions than before.


	2. Chapter 2

Secrets

_Chapter 1_

The next morning, Jayfeather stretched and yawned, his jaws opening wide. He listened to his clan mates waking up and stuck his head out of his den. He smelled Daisy's milk-scent as she took Rosekit and Toadkit out to stretch their legs. Even if Lionblaze said they were cute, they were _still _a nuisance; Toadkit was always getting into his store.

The thought of Lionblaze reminded him of his latest dream.. As soon as his brother came out of the warriors den, he would tell him about it. Jayfeather felt a pang of grief; he would never be able to tell Holly leaf about it; she would have been a great help in solving the puzzle.

He shook his head; Lionblaze had just emerged from the den. Jayfeather padded over to him.

"I need to tell you something. I've just had another dream."

Lionblaze's ears pricked up interestedly. He mewed, "Quick, over here. Tell me all about it!"

Jayfeather let his brother lead him over to a quiet area of the camp.

"Well, I was in this cave..." and Jayfeather proceeded to tell Lionblaze all about his dream. When he finished, neither of them knew what to think.

Rainfire padded slowly along the grass. He was exhausted; the clan had been walking almost the whole day. But he didn't really mind. They had almost reached the forest! They would have to walk on the meadow for just a few more minutes, and then they would never come here again. "At least, I hope not." Rainfire thought. It had been nice at first, but after awhile, the open-ness made him nervous.

He squared his shoulders, and quickened his pace. Brambletail and Squirrelheart were walking ahead of him, but he caught up.

"Hi, Squirrelheart. Brambletail." Rainfire said companionably.

"Hi," they replied.

"I'm glad we're almost there," Squirrelheart panted. "My paws feel like they're falling off."

"Yeah," Rainfire agreed. He paused to lick his sore pads. "As soon as we get there, I'm going to catch a mouse. I've hardly had anything all day!"

"A nap would be nice, too," Brambletail yawned, swishing his tail.

The three cats padded on in silence for a few minutes. Rainfire looked ahead at Tanglefur. He seemed so certain of what to do, striding beside Shinestar. Rainfire wished he could be like his father and hoped he would be deputy one day.

Then, he looked over at Squirrelheart. The pretty grey she-cat was padding along calmly in between him and Brambletail. As he watched, she touched Brambetail's shoulder with her tail and said, "Watch out for that slope".

Rainfire felt a twinge of jealousy; why hadn't Squirrelheart warned _him_? He shook his head, pushing the thought away. He was being silly; Squirrelheart liked him, too. Didn't she?

The meadow opened abruptly and went into a kind of rocky slope that was rather steep.

Shinestar flicked her tail, making the motion to stop. "Proceed carefully. If a cat falls, they could be badly hurt."

As Rainfire picked his way carefully down the rocky slope, followed by Squirrelheart and Brambletail ,he began to smell something awful. It was a hard, disgusting, filthy smell. It seemed to come from a large black surface.

"What on earth..." Rainfire muttered. What was that? What was if for? Why was it there? Questions swirled around in his brain.. He turned to look at his friends and saw they were just as confused as he was.

Ravenleap padded over to him. What is that thing?" he asked.

"I wish I knew," Rainfire mewed.

"Do you think Shinestar knows?" Brambletail asked. The large tom was standing beside Ravenleap.

"She's asking Mosspelt right now," Rainfire said, noticing the clan leader padding toward the elder.

"Cats of Darkclan," Shinestar announced, "This black surface is called a Dangerpath. They aren't common where we're from. Mosspelt will tell you more."

Mosspelt, an ancient, dark grey tom, was the oldest cat in the clan, and knew quite a lot. He had been a loner accepted into Darkclan as a warrior, so Rainfire wasn't surprised to hear that he knew about Dangerpaths. He waited quietly for the elder to speak.

"When I was a loner," Mosspelt began, "I sometimes came across Dangerpaths. They are Thunderbeast territory."

"What's a Thunderbeast?" squeaked Berrykit.

"Shh, Berrykit. Let Mosspelt speak," Cloverleaf murmured.

"Thunderbeasts are huge, stinking beasts that move quickly, and are very loud. Their eyes shine brightly in the night. They carry strange creatures in their bellies."

Rainfire shivered in the cold evening air. Thunderbeasts sounded terrifying, and he didn't want to cross the Dangerpath. But he looked across, and the forest was quite close. He didn't want to go all the long way back; there was no place to stay and the open meadow wasn't for him. "Besides," Rainfire thought, "it isn't really my choice. It is for Shinestar to decide."

He looked at Shinestar, who was quiet for a few moments. Then, she said, "We'll have to go in groups of three. My group will go last."

Rainfire was in the second group, along with Cloverleaf, his mother. He was carrying Berrykit and Cloverleaf had Rockkit. He waited for Shinestar to give the signal, and then he ran, Cloverleaf at his side. Soon, they were panting but safe on the other side.

Rainfire watched the rest of the clan cross, twitching his ears nervously. What if a Thunderbeast came while a group was in the middle of the Dangerpath?

Rainfire sighed. He couldn't wait to get to the forest. The Dagerpath's stench made him feel queasy, and his paws were dirty from its filth. The ground he was sitting on was uncomfortable. His stomach was growling with hunger. Rainfire couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a mouse.

He returned his attention to the Dangerpath, where Shinestar, Willowface and Tanglefur had just finished crossing. Rainfire sighed in relief. Now the Dangerbeasts couldn't hurt them. For now, at least, they were safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi, back again! Concrit welcome, but no flames, please(I have a shiny blue fire extinguisher just in case...). Enjoy!**

_Chapter 2_

"Leafwhisker, could you check on the cats? I want to make sure they're all okay before we keep going."

"Yes, Shinestar."

Leafwhisker padded away from Shinestar and began her inspection. She decided to go to her father first and check on his paw. She padded over to Tanglefur.

"Hello, father," Leafwhisker mewed. "Can I look at your paw?"

The ginger deputy obediently lifted it up so Leafwhisker could examine it.

"Hmm...good, it isn't infected. Try to keep it clean, though," Leafwhisker meowed.

"Thanks, I will." There was warmth in Tanglefur's amber eyes. "Try to get some sleep, though. You look tired."

Leafwhisker was tired. "I definitely need an apprentice," she thought. What she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep now that it was dusk. But duty comes first, Leafwhisker reminded herself. I have to check on the rest of the cats.

Leafwhisker checked on Ripplegaze next and was a little worried; the wound on her paw had gotten a bit worse from walking all day. Leafwhisker wished, not for the first time, that none of this had happened. That they were at home in the forest, with all their prey and herbs. That Ripplegaze's paw was better by now.

Ripplegaze must have seen the worried look on her face because she said, "It isn't that bad. It was almost better this morning, and it hasn't gotten much worse." Leafwhisker smiled. Ripplegaze was right, of course. Leafwhisker suspected the reason she had gotten so upset was that she was tired.

"Thanks for the encouragement," she purred. "Just clean it up a bit. With lots of rest, it'll be fine. Maybe I'll be able to find some marigold."

Ripplegaze nodded and Leafwhisker padded off to check on the elders.

Sprig step and Mosspelt were tired but healthy. "Thanks for telling us about the Thunderbeasts and the Dangerpath," she meowed.

"No problem," the elder grunted, but Leafwhisker knew he was pleased.

After saying goodnight to Sprig step, Leafwhisker checked on Willowface, Cloverleaf and the kits. Then, she moved on to the warriors; after that came the apprentices.

Once Leafwhisker had completed her rounds, she returned to Shinestar.

"Tanglefur's paw is healing nicely, and I think Ripplegaze's wound will be fine if I can find some marigold. Aside from sore pads and empty bellies, everyone else is fine, as long as they get some rest," Leafwhisker reported, trying to hold back a yawn.

Shinestar looked relieved.

"Are we going to stay here for the night?" Leafwhisker asked.

"I think we'll just keep going until we reach the forest, we're close enough. Besides, I don't really want to sleep by the Dangerpath".

Even though she was exhausted, Leafwhisker had to agree with Shinestar. They really were pretty close to the forest. And she was glad she wouldn't have to stay by the Dangerpath much longer. The stench was horrible and every time a Thunderbeast roared by, she couldn't help flinching at the low noise.

"That's a good idea," she murmured sleepily.

Leafwhisker padded wearily along. "One paw in front of the other", she reminded herself. The clan had walked along a little bit of grass - " This is nothing compared to that meadow," Leafwhisker thought - and turned onto a small, unused Dangerpath.

They didn't actually walk on the Dangerpath; the hard black surface hurt their paws. Instead, they padded beside it.

Soon, trees, glorious trees were around them and the Dangerpath. Soon, the black path became gravel and the gravel became dirt, which was soon covered by dry, crackling leaves ad bits of moss.

They had reached the forest, and finally, after four days of traveling, they were home.


	4. Chapter 4

__**I don't own this. Never did, never will.**

_Chapter 3_

"HEY! Someone put wet moss in my bedding!"

Surprised by Toad paw's sudden outburst, Hawkpath jumped, hitting her sore head on the rock wall of the training cave. She staggered back with a yelp, trying to blink the stars out of her eyes.

"What's going on in there?" Poppyfur was the guard that night. Hawkpath was relieved; even though Poppyfur was Thorntail's sister, she was much nicer.

"Oh, I - I hit my head on the wall."

Hawkpath thought she heard Poppyfur give a mrrow of amusement.

"Be careful in there!" Poppyfur called.

Hawkpath looked out of the mouth of the cave and saw an angry Toadpaw confronting Srucepaw. From what hawkpath had seen, Sprucepaw was rather obnoxious. She pitied the cat who had to mentor the Moonclan apprentice.

She sighed and retreated back in the depths of the training cave.

Hawpath had been in captivity for four long days. It would get incredibly boring just lying around, so she had decided to do something with her time and had been practicing hunting nd fighting moves to keep herself from dying from boredom.

Hawkpath crouched in the shadows and gazed into the twilight mouth of the cave, facing an imaginary enemy. Suddenly, she leaped, unsheathing her claws, and landed neatly on the floor, digging her laws into the old moss. Then, she jumped again, twisting in midair and lashing out with her sharp claws, just as Birchclaw had taught her. Hawkpath purred, pleased. It was a difficult battle move, but she had done it perfectly.

She sighed, tired, and sat down. She groomed herself, carefully avoiding her wounds. "They would heal faster if Leapstar and Oakstar let the medicine cats help, Hawkpath thought grumpily." She had heard Thorntail telling the leaders about the incident with the mouse. "It's a waste of good food, especially when prey is so scarce..." Wasn't that what he'd said?

Hawkpath lay down, trying to ignore the hunger curling through her stomach. She hadn't had anything to eat since then.

Cursing Thorntail, she curled up tighter to stay warm. Hawkpath wished she was in the warrior's den, warm with her clan mates. She missed Rainfire and her parents, Ripplegaze and Sprigstep, and hoped her mother's fox bite wasn't causing her too much trouble.

At first, Hawkpath had hoped her clan mates would come back for her, but she had eventually realized she was being mouse brained; of course they wouldn't return! There were too many cats in the camp. If anything, they probably thought her dead.

In a bad mood, Hawkpath stood up and padded to the mouth of the cave. "There's no use trying to sleep," she thought grumpily, "this cave makes it impossible."

With a sigh, Hawkpath watched Poppyfur stifle a yawn.

To pass the time, Hawkpath watched Nightclan going about its business. Pebbleshine, Swallowstep, and Nettleclaw - he'd gotten his warrior name yesterday - were organizing their stack of herbs.

Clearheart, a pale orange she-cat was leading in a hunting patrol consisting of herself, Stoneface, and Fogpaw, their jaws laden with prey. Hawkpath felt her jowls filling with water as the delicious scent of squirrel wafted over to her. Her stomach gave an indignant pang of hunger, and Hawkpath decided she would have to sneak out of the cave at Moonhigh to hunt.

She tore her eyes away from the heaping prey pile and turned her eyes to the nursery. Mousepelt, a skinny brown Sunclan queen was listening to a proud Thorntail as their kits play-wrestled outside the nursery.

Hawkpath couldn't understand why Mousepelt would want such a prickly cat as a mate, but she liked watching their adorable kits. Whitekit, a black-and-white tome, was the smaller of the two, while the energetic smokekit reminded Hawkpath of Berrykit. Smokekit, a dark gray tom, was a little older than the black Berrykit and they were from different clans, but they had the same energetic disposition. Hawkpath sighed. She missed Berrykit nd the rest of her clan, and being stuck in their old camp only made it worse.

Hawkpath pushed away her sorrow and watched Robinpaw and Meadowpaw enlarging the nursery; with four queens and seven kits, it was way too crowded. It would be even more full when Owlfeather, the fourth queen, had her kits. From what Hawkpath had heard, that would happen pretty soon. Hawkpath couldn't wait to see the new kits and wondered what their names would be.

Hawkpath licked her chest fur a couple of times to make it stay flat, then looked around again.

Pebbleshine was bringing borage to Owlfeather, who was dozing outside the nursery. Dovewhisker, a tawny Moonclan queen, was leading her two kits, Wolfkit and Tallkit, to the preypile.

Hawkpath let out a mrrow of amusement as Tallkit, a lanky white tom, tried to grab hold of his mother's tail. She looked at Poppyfur, whose green eyes were sparkling with fun.

Hawkpath yawned suddenly, and decided she'd better get some sleep if she wanted to catch some prey. She looked at the sliver of moon over her head before she went into the cave, and soon was fast asleep, despite the cold.


	5. Chapter 5

Secrets

**I don't own Warriors. **_  
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_Chapter 5_

Hawkpath woke to thin moonlight filtering through the mouth of the cave. Carefully, she crept to the front of the cave and peered at Poppyfur. She let out a soft sigh of relief when she saw Poppyfur was asleep. She padded slowly out of the cave, setting each paw down as lightly as if she was stalking prey, being careful not to wake Poppyfur up.

Once Hawkpath was a good distance away, she ran lightly out of the camp, wincing at the sting of her wounds. "They're still infected...maybe I could sneak some marigold from the medicine cats' den." Hawkpath quickly ruled that out; even if she didn't wake the three medicine cats up, they would notice that some was gone.

Hawkpath stopped; she could smell mouse. She saw two mice scuffling at a few seeds and went into the hunter's crouch. Slowly, she inched forward, putting each paw down as lightly as she could. Then, Hawkpath pounced. She slammed her paw down on one mouse, breaking its neck. The other mouse scrambled into the shadows, but Hawkpath had excellent night vision. Soon, she was scarfing down both of them.

Hawkpath let out a happy purr; she had gotten her first good meal in days. She was going to head back, but stopped. She was free! "Why should I go back? I'd just be trapped! Maybe I can find my clan mates!"

Hawkpath felt giddy; she could leave now and no one could know! Who cared if her clan mates didn't come back to her? She could find them!

Electrified, Hawkpath was about to race away when she smelled something. Nervously, Hawkpath tasted the air. Yes, she was right: fox! Hawkpath froze. Part of her wanted to run away, but the other part knew she should track the scent to chase the fox away. She followed the scent, winding through the trees.

Suddenly Hawkpath stopped. She had been so intent on following the scent, she hadn't realized that it had led her back to the Darkclan camp! "Oh no! If the fox is here, it could kill some cat!'

Even though the fox would be attacking Moonclan and Sunclan cats, it would be cruel to let it kill them. "Besides," Hawkpath thought, "what if it kills one of the kits?"

She scanned the clearing and soon saw the fox. It was very skinny, with a matted pelt and crusted wounds. "Is that the fox that attacked Ripplegaze?" Hawkpath thought in alarm. Then she realized, horrified, that it was entering the nursery.

With a yowl, she streaked towards the fox. Hawkpath saw Poppyfur jerk her head up in surprise as she tore past, but she didn't care.

There was a screech from the nursery and Hawkpath skidded to a halt. Dangling from the fox's jaws was Daisykit. Bluegaze, Daisykit's mother, was stiff with shock. The other queens were looking around in bewildered alarm.

With a snarl, Hawkpath slashed at the fox, giving it a sharp blow on the side of its head. It staggered back, then snapped at her, nicking her nose with its tooth. Hawkpath's nose stung, and blood began to trickle out of it.

Suddenly Poppyfur was beside her, raking her claws through the fox's pelt. Hawkpath looked at Daisykit and knew there was no saving her. She felt a pang of grief for the tiny kit, then turned to the fox.

She gasped; it had bit Poppyfur on the leg and was shaking her like a leaf. Hawkpath leaped at the fox, landing on its back and digging in with her claws. With a yelp the fox dropped Poppyfur, who slumped on the ground. Then next thing Hawkpath knew, she had been shaken off and was crashing into the nursery.

Brambles tore at her pelt and stung her sides, but she dragged herself free, leaving clumps of golden brown fur behind. Hawkpath heard the other kits squeaking in fear and hoped none of the others had been hurt.

More warriors were closing in and he fox had evidently had enough. It streaked out of the clearing, red fur bristling. Leapstar gave the order for some of the cats to give chase.

"Make sure that fox doesn't come back!" he growled, lashing his tail.

Thorntail shouldered past Hawkpath, staring in shock at Poppyfur. Hawkpath winced; she didn't want Poppyfur to be hurt and hoped Thorntail wouldn't blame her for his sister's wound. Thorntail swung his head around to glare at Hawkpath, who flinched at his orange gaze, then shouldered his way into the ruined nursery.

Nettleclaw, Swallowstep, and Pebbleshine had come dashing over. Hawkpath watched Pebbleshine lead out the shaken queens and their kits. Leapstar rushed over to Bluegaze and buried his nose in her fur.

Hawkpath was surprised when Nettleclaw came over to her, carrying cobwebs and other herbs. She had forgotten she was hurt, but when the mottled grey medicine cat came over to her, she remembered. Pain shot through her nose, her head, her whole body, and Hawkpath sat down with a bump. Nettleclaw mewed, "Press these on your nose," handing Hawkpath a wad of spider webs. Obediently, she pressed them gently to her nose, wincing.

Nettleclaw muttered something under his breath as he tended to Hawkpath's wounds. "What?" she asked curiously. "Oh, nothing," Nettleclaw meowed nonchalantly, "I'm just going to get some marigold. Eat these," he added, swishing his tail to indicate some poppy seeds. Hawkpath nodded and gulped them down as he headed back to the medicine cat's den.

As Nettleclaw passed Swallowstep, he touched his tail tip to her shoulder and Hawkpath overheard him murmuring, "Does she get enough to eat? She's awfully thin." I wish, Hawkpath thought, changing the position of the spider web.

Yawning, Hawkpath pushed the moss lining the cave into a bundle. She nosed her way into the bundle, curling up tight to keep out the tree-bare cold. Hawkpath found herself yearning for her clan mates and the warm, snug warriors den. Was Ravenpaw a warrior now? Had he taken her place? Did her clan mates miss her? Hawkpath shook the thoughts out of her head. "Don't be mouse-brained!" she told herself. "No cat can replace you! Of course your clan mates miss you!"...Right?


	6. Chapter 6

Secrets

__**As per usual, Warriors isn't mine.**

_Chapter 6_

Rainfire sat up, blinking rain out of his eyes. Darkclan had finally reached the forest, but hadn't found a camp yet. They had been too tired to continue last night, and Rainfire had fallen asleep immediately. But now he felt much more energetic. His sleeping place, under a bush, was leaking rainwater on his face. Rainfire peered out from the bush and a raindrop fell in his eye.

Muttering crossly under his breath and rubbing his smarting eye, Rainfire crept out from under the bush. Last night the dry, crackling leaves had seemed welcome, but in the storm, they were soggy, and the sparse covering from the bush was doing nothing to keep him dry.

Rainfire flinched at the freezing touch of the rain, but he was glad it wasn't snowing. Snow would make it hard to find a camp. Rainfire sighed. He wished it wasn't raining. He gave his orange fur a few licks and peered around. He noticed Squirrelheart and Brambletail, protected by bracken and an ivy covered tree. Rainfire felt a twinge of jealousy run through him._ Why didn't they come with me? It_ _would've been like the warriors den!_ Rainfire felt tempted to join them, but he changed his mind and padded over to Ravenleap, Birchclaw, and Swiftstep instead. He curled up by Ravenleap. _Of course they didn't stay with me._

"Eurgh...S' not time to get up yet..." Ravenleap mumbled sleepily when Rainfire curled up beside him. Rainfire stifled a laugh and instantly fell asleep.

Later, Rainfire padded through the forest. Shinestar was leading Darkclan on an expedition through the forest to find a new camp. The rain had stopped and his fur was almost dry; Rainfire felt much better. The cats could hunt as they went, so most of them were fed, but Rainfire hadn't eaten anything yet and he was hungry.

There was a rustling noise under a bush and Rainfire pricked up his ears. He tried to smell what was there, but the rain made it hard to tell. Rainfire was surprised (and disappointed) when he saw what had come out. A toad?

Suddenly, a bird swooped down and snatched up the toad. Rainfire perked up._ A bird I can eat!_ He jumped at the bird, but as he batted it out of the air, he smelled something._..Is that ...cat?_

Rainfire picked up his kill and peered nervously into the woods, but he didn't see any cats, so he headed towards the rest of his clan. That smell didn't come from Darkclan, that's for sure!

The next thing he knew, he was being attacked from behind.


End file.
